GST on langar: LGPC demands rollback

The Lucknow Gurudwara Pabandhak Committee (LGPC) today made a demand for immediate withdrawal of GST on 'langar' -- community meal -- services offered by the all Sikh shrines across the country, including the Golden Temple at Amritsar.

Earlier, the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which manages all gurdwaras, and Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has also urged the Centre to exempt the free kitchens at the Golden Temple and other Sikh shrines from the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"This is for the first time in the 450 year history of the Gurudwaras that GST was being levied on 'langar' service," LGPC President Rajendra Singh Bagga said while addressing a press conference here.

He urged the government for immediate withdrawal of the GST on free meal services offered by all the Gurudwaras in the country, and called the levying of GST on free kitchens at Sikh shrines as "unfair"